Mo. House speaker urges birth control appeal

A bill requiring voter ID at the polls caused heated debate at the Missouri House of Representatives Monday.

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Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones wants the attorney general to appeal a judge's ruling striking down the state's contraception insurance exemption for people with moral objections.

Jones sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Chris Koster urging him to appeal on grounds of religious freedom and to challenge a policy by President Barack Obama's administration that requires insurers to cover birth control at no additional cost to women.

Koster spokeswoman Nanci Gonder said Wednesday that the office has not decided whether to appeal last week's decision by a federal judge.

The judge ruled that Missouri's law exempting workers and employers from contraception coverage on moral grounds ran contrary to the provisions of Obama's health care law. The judge noted that federal laws takes precedence over conflicting state laws.